


The (Red) Ties That Bind Us

by kimpotato



Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Mentioned Aaron Kwak, Red String of Fate, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22361338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimpotato/pseuds/kimpotato
Summary: Minhyun has always been able to see red strings connecting people to their soulmates.Sometimes he wishes he couldn't.
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR, Kang Dongho | Baekho/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Comments: 22
Kudos: 83
Collections: Spring Blessings (Nu'est 8th Anniversary Fic Fest)





	The (Red) Ties That Bind Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wintercrystale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercrystale/gifts).



> Prompt #36:
> 
> Minhyun has always been able to see the red strings between people, but he can't see the one on himself. (His crush is Jonghyun, but Jonghyun has a red string between himself and someone else who is not Minhyun).

"Do you believe in soulmates, Jjuya?"

Minhyun gulped as he waited for his best friend's reply. He and Jonghyun were sitting on the sidewalk outside a convenience store, sipping colas and munching on corn dogs. Having just finished another grueling week of exams, the duo decided to treat themselves to their favorite snacks after school.

Jonghyun bit into his potato corn dog and chewed thoughtfully. "I believe that some people are meant to meet and stay together, yes." He shot Minhyun a curious look. "What brought this on?"

Minhyun fidgeted with his cola bottle, unsure how to proceed. Then, taking a deep breath, he announced, "I see red strings on people."

His best friend blinked. "Red strings?"

Minhyun winced at the question. "You must think I'm crazy," he muttered, eyes glaring at his shoes as fists clenched on his knees.

"I think you're no crazier than I am."

He looked up and saw Jonghyun smiling kindly at him. Heart squeezing tightly in his chest, Minhyun tried to formulate the words to show how thankful he was for that statement.

"So tell me more about these strings?"

Ever since he could remember, Minhyun had been able to see shiny red strings connecting people. He called these lines soul strings, because they seemed to be connecting soulmates to each other.

He could see one between his parents, deep red and thick as wedding cords. The one drifting from Aaron-hyung to Ji-eun-ssi was thinner, newer, but no less shiny. In some people, all Minhyun could see was a three-foot string, floating from the base of their nape (Mingi) or the center of their chest (his sister Sujin), until it faded from view. Minhyun guessed these people have yet to meet their soulmates in person.

“Who am I connected to?” Jonghyun asked, curiosity obvious in his eyes. 

Minhyun fought down a blush and shook his head. “You don’t have anyone yet.” And it was true. Jonghyun's string floated from his chest, dancing with the wind gently. It gave Minhyun relief, and yet he dreaded the day that his best friend’s string would finally find its other end.

Jonghyun looked mildly disappointed. “How about you then?”

This time, Minhyun turned away sadly. “I . . . I can’t see my own string.” It was unfortunate, really. For someone who was obsessed with the idea of soulmates, it was a shame that he would never find out who was meant for him.

“Oh?” Jonghyun raised two perfect eyebrows. “That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

Minhyun frowned. “It’s not like I can control these things, you know.”

At that, Jonghyun chuckled. “Well, maybe my string’s connected to yours and you just can’t see it.”

That gave Minhyun pause. “You think so?” In the back of his mind, he was crying, begging, _Oh let this be true, please, let this be the case._

Jonghyun shrugged. “It’s a plausible explanation.”

That gave Minhyun hope.

***

That hope quickly dissipated when Mingi introduced them to Dongho from the Music Department. As the shy musician said his hello's, Minhyun saw Jonghyun's red string snap in attention, then slowly, almost shyly, danced around Dongho’s waiting cord. Minhyun held his breath as Dongho’s string suddenly lunged, wrapping itself around Jonghyun’s wrist, before connecting its end to Jonghyun’s floating one.

“You okay?” Jonghyun whispered, nudging Minhyun’s shoulder when the latter failed to return Dongho's greeting.

“Of-of course,” Minhyun coughed, trying his best not to sob.

***

As the days passed by, Minhyun saw Jonghyun’s string intertwine with Dongho’s more and more, as the two built their friendship stronger and deeper than before. It wasn’t as if Jonghyun had abandoned him; they were still best friends, as far as Minhyun knew, and he was still the first person Jonghyun would run to whenever he had a new game or he wanted to go to the arcade or eat at his favorite diner.

But Minhyun saw how Jonghyun paid attention to Dongho too, how he encouraged the musician's dream to become a music producer, how he smiled whenever Dongho sang a self-composed song, how he worried whenever Dongho started one of his never-ending diets again.

“They look good together, huh?” Mingi gushed one time, unaware of the internal turmoil raging in Minhyun’s heart.

“Right."

“I hope they produce a song together,” Mingi said excitedly. “Jonghyun is an expert lyricist, after all.”

Minhyun didn't have the heart to tell Mingi to shut the hell up.

***

“You’ve been skipping baseball practice,” Jonghyun accused, plopping down beside him gracefully. Minhyun had been sitting alone on a bench in the middle of the quad, trying to balance his ledger for his accounting assignment. 

He hadn't spoken to Jonghyun in a week. Mostly he took the long route back to the dorms, or scheduled his meals when he's sure Jonghyun would be in class.

He had hoped he could finish the end of the term without running into him again.

But his luck ran out, finally.

“I’ve been busy with school work. I already asked permission from Aron-hyung. He said I can take a break till the end of the semester."

They both knew it was a lie, but it seemed like Jonghyun chose not to call him out on it. "Want to study together later?"

Minhyun glared at the numbers in his ledger. He'd rather drown in accounting than look up and lie to Jonghyun's face. "I . . . I promised Mingi I'll go with him to Insadong."

"But I thought you were busy with school work?"

"I . . ."

"Hwang Minhyun." 

Minhyun gulped. He knew that tone. It was not friendly at all. It meant that the maltese that was Jjuya had taken a walk. It meant that dobermann Kim Jonghyun was present and currently furious.

"Are you avoiding me?"

There was so much incredulity, disappointment, _anger,_ in Jonghyun's voice, Minhyun almost missed the slight hurt underneath them all.

"Of course not! I told you, I've been busy!"

"Don't lie to me."

Minhyun hated it, how Jonghyun could always tell if he was not telling the truth. How he had to pretend that nothing was wrong. How he had to hide the fact that his heart kept breaking whenever he saw Jonghyun and Dongho together. How the red string between them kept solidifying, so much that Minhyun finally decided to stay away because it hurt too much to look.

"Why are you even here?" he tried to change tactics. "Shouldn't you be spending time with Dongho?"

Jonghyun blinked, his anger dissipating. "Dongho? Why would I be with Dongho now?"

"Aren't you writing that song together?" Minhyun prayed his voice wouldn't crack or sound accusing.

"I finished writing my part of the lyrics. He needs time to arrange everything before we start with any real recording."

"But . . ."

"Why do you want me to be with Dongho?" There it was again. The hurt and confusion in Jonghyun's voice. And the cluelessness. More than anything, Minhyun guessed it was Jonghyun's oblivion that finally set him off.

"Because he's your soulmate!"

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . "

"So you're saying there's a red string connecting me and him?"

 _Bloody hell._ Minhyun bit his lower lip to stop himself from crying.

"That's . . . nice . . ." 

***

"You should really stop hiding from me."

Two weeks after that disaster that was their last conversation, when Minhyun suddenly _scampered_ away before Jonghyun could put in another word, he was again graced by the presence of the person he wanted to see the least (and most).

"Go away, Jjuya," he muttered, burying his face in his calculus notebook.

"What did I do? Can't I hang out with my best friend now?"

"Not when your soulmate is just in the room down the hall, arranging the song you wrote together."

Jonghyun chuckled. "I didn't know finding your soulmate means you can't spend time with your other important people anymore. Heck, I spend more time with Mingi these days than with you."

Minhyun closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against his notes. How could he make Jonghyun see that what he was doing was not helping _him_?

"You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

Minhyun sighed, raising his head and looking sadly at his best friend.

"You're lucky you've met your soulmate. The other end of your red string. I can't even see mine. Do you know how frustrating that is?"

Well, it wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't entirely a lie either. After all, how was he to explain that he wished Jonghyun's string ended where his began?

"Is that what this is all about? That stupid red string?"

"It's not stupid!"

Jonghyun clucked his tongue in annoyance. "It is if it means we can't be friends anymore."

" . . . I'm just sparing myself from future pain."

"Because what? You think I'd leave you just because we found out that Dongho and I are meant to be together?"

_Wow, break my heart while you're at it, asshole._

Minhyun watched as Jonghyun dug into his backpack, pulling out a ball of red yarn and a pair of scissors. He measured an arm's length of string and snipped it away in a huff.

"Here," Jonghyun hissed, grabbing Minhyun's wrist and tying one end of the string around it.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Jonghyun glared at him. "You can't see your red string, but you can see this. Now you can tie it to whoever you like."

"Are you mocking me?!" Minhyun all but screeched.

Jonghyun sighed, and Minhyun watched as his expression shifted from annoyance to fondness. Then, taking the other end of the string, Jonghyun wrapped it around his own wrist. "Here, tie this."

"What?"

"Tie it, Hyun-ah."

Minhyun hadn't heard that nickname in a long time. He realized he had missed it as much as he had missed his best friend. With shaky fingers, he managed to tie the string securely around Jonghyun's wrist, even ending it with a cute little bow.

"There." Jonghyun smiled, that special smile he reserved for those truly special to him. Minhyun should know—he was the recipient of that smile countless times before.

"But this is just a piece of yarn," Minhyun couldn't help but pout.

Jonghyun shrugged. "The way I see it, this is more special than my invisible red string." That smile again. "I mean, fate decided that Dongho and I are soulmates," Minhyun's heart constricted at the reminder, until Jonghyun raised their connected wrists. "But this here, my connection with you? This is my choice."

Minhyun fought back the tears that were making his eyes glassy. Jonghyun grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"Now the question is: Will you choose this too?"

_Minhyun said yes, of course._

###

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to A, for her valuable inputs. And for gushing at inappropriate times.


End file.
